The Ones we Must Protect
by RookDesparro
Summary: Naruto and Kakashi rescue three refugee Rock ninja. Their clan carries a powerful dojutsu and they may be the key to helping Naruto keep a promise to a loved one. Slightly AU, some OOCishness. 3 OC. Rated for some language content, may go up later.
1. A 'Rock'y Beginning

Disclaimer: No, I dont own own Naruto, be it the series, manga, or any characters or ideas pertaining there to. I do however have original characters within this story, Tohya Kuren, Omey and Arana.

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A/N: My first fic. It is kind of obvious. This is my first attempt not using my own world to write something, using it as a project to increase my skills. I want to focus on plot as much as possible in this fic, so am keeping OC to a minimum. Fight scenes are also not my forte, and again, practice, practice, practice. Hopefully things will smooth out as the story progresses, I have the ideas, just need to get them down. Help is appreciated. Also, forgive the puns.

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The Ones we Must Protect

Chapter 1 - A 'Rock'y Beginning

The figure in orange flipped back as the tiny shuruken thudded into the ground in front of him. His silver haired opponent landed about twenty feet away with a catlike grace as Naruto nearly finished his flip, landing unceremoniously on his face.

"Ah, Naruto, you seem a little distracted today, maybe we should finish now," mentioned the elite jounin.

The younger blond nin stood, brushed himself off and looked over at his mentor. "Heh, I have to be in top form sensei. I get my new assignment tomorrow." They both chuckled a bit at this.

"Don't wear yourself out too much Naruto," said Kakashi still laughing slightly, "leave some energy for Hinata tonight. It is your anniversary after all" The younger shinobi blushed slightly at having the copy-nin talk of such things. After a moments silence, Kakashi continued, this time with a note of seriousness in his voice. "Ne, Naruto, why is it you call me sensei still. You passed the Jounin exam 2 years ago, you and I are equal ranks now."

Naruto scratched his head and made a side-long glance at his former teacher, and spoke with the same level of seriousness, "Even when I become Hokage you will still be Kakashi-sensei, I will continue to call you Kakashi-sensei till I learn everything you can teach me, only then will I see us as equals." Kakashi cocked a brow at this levelheaded maturity from his student. Even after passing into the ranks of the Jounin, Naruto had retained most of his childish ways, a blessing in disguise perhaps, but a hard earned maturity was etched around his baby blues and a furious red scar that lashed across his left eye was the only visible evidence of his last battle with his nemesis, Saskue.

"Well, sensei, I guess I should go," Naruto looked out across the Hidden Leaf Village, and started walking town the cliff face. Kakashi followed suit and looked over at Naruto with his good eye. Naruto had grown in the last few years, now a tall, gaunt figure. The spiky blond hair and narrow face highlighted fox-like blue eyes, and long, well-muscled arms were crossed against a hard, rail like body. He reminded the older nin much of himself.

"Oi, sensei," Naruto looked over at Kakashi who regarded him with his uncovered eye, "Can we stop at the monument before we get back into town?" Kakashi nodded silently.

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Naruto felt the cool onyx slab under his fingertips as they brushed across the name engraved on that spot. Jiraiya. He remembered the final clash, a battle of the titans as it were, in which he lost his friend and teacher.

The blow back from the Rasengen meeting the Chidori made the two Sannin have to move their feet to prevent being blown off balance. The Kyuubi's chakra surrounded Naruto, and Saskue was in full creature form. Demon was more the word for it. The Sharingan shone in his eyes as he stumbled back to his feet and rushed the Blond ninja again. Orochimaru attacked the same way, his giant summoned serpent lashing forward and gripping Gammabunta around the neck. The massive toad-lord winced, unable to shake off his attacker. Naruto had recovered from the brutal attack put on by Saskue and sent him flying across the landscape. He dashed toward Jiraiya, performing a few quick hand seals.

"_Bunshin no jutsu!" a puff of smoke and a giant, nine tailed red fox grabbed the serpent, ripped it away from Gammabunta and pinned it to the ground with a massive clawed paw. _

"_Naruto! Your opponent is over here!" called Saskue, who was rushing Naruto again, chidori blazing. The black-haired missing-nin thrust himself into the air. Nine red tails lashed at him like whips but were ineffective against the speed of the attack. Blue chakra hit red fur with a screaming crackle. The fox puffed into a small log, which landed beside a visibly tired Saskue. "How basic," he jeered at Naruto who was now standing behind him, eyes red with fury. The two Sannin had un-summoned their creatures and were now engaged hand to hand about fifty feet away from the rivals. _

"_Nice little warm up, eh Saskue?" grinned Naruto, reaching into a little pack on the small of his back. He dug out Saskue's old head-protector and tossed it at him. Saskue affixed the symbol of his old life to his forehead, a sign that he was meeting his former rival as an equal. He quickly preformed some hand seals and unleashed a powerful fireball at Naruto, who countered with a water jutsu he picked up from Kakashi. Under the sizzle the 2 men crossed kunai, struggling for dominance. Saskue looked up to see a hail of kunai and shuruken rain down on him. The two opponents broke contact and bounced backward a bit. From his right, a Naruto bunshin rushed him with a kunai. He dispelled it by tossing a shuruken through it. And from the left now, the same thing, then immediately from above. A log landed at his feet. _

'_Replacement technique again' thought Saskue, then he looked again, to see an explosion tag stuck to it. "Shit!" he cried and jumped back out of the range of the blast and heaved a sigh. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. _

"_Special Technique, Thousand years of pain jutsu!" Naruto was crouched behind Saskue and struck him with 2 fingers that sent him flying upward._

"_Gah, cant you ever be serious, dummy!" he bonked Naruto, just as he would when they were younger, a time near forgotten by both. _

"_Ha, just humiliating you a bit before I kick your ass Saskue!" the youngest Uchiha had reverted to his normal human form with a smirk on his face. _

"_Try it, drop out."_

Naruto didn't remember much beyond that, after Saskue's chidori brushed his face, leaving an angry scar, he went into what could be best deemed a berserker rage. He had forced the dark haired traitor into a retreat, and then turned his focus onto a drained and haggard Orochimaru. The perverted sannin teacher had held up well against the younger version of his old teammate, but in the end he succumbed to the serpents bite and died there on that battlefield, and what the spiky-haired nin did that day effectively placed Saskue as the head of the Hidden Village of Sound. Naruto brushed a tear off his cheek remembering his friend and mentor.

"He would be proud of you, Naruto, like I am." The masked copy-nin placed his hand on his students shoulder and guided him back toward town. Naruto looked a bit downcast at they turned back toward the Konoha village.

"I still haven't been able to keep my promise." Kakashi looked up at his young comrade. Naruto continued, "When I left that day, on the original mission to find Saskue, I promised Sakura…. I promised Sakura-chan I would bring him back."

"And you will, Naruto, when the time is right you will."

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The office of the Godaime was rather crowded for 7 in the morning. Naruto looked around and saw mostly familiar faces, most of which had passed the Jounin exams with him. Neji, Lee, Tenten, Ino. Kiba leaned against a wall in the back with Akamaru perched on his head, while Choji and Shikamaru chatted near the Hokage's desk. The last to enter was Sakura, who came and stood beside Naruto. They talked for only a moment when the blond headed leader of the Hidden Leaf burst in, arms full of documents and her aide trailing, trying to keep up. Tsunade dropped the pile onto her desk and gently sat herself into the comfortable chair. With a skilled hand, she picked up eight manila envelopes and tossed them at their respective addressees.

"These are your new Genin teams. All fresh academy graduates. Have fun, now get out. Mission assignments will start next week." Tsunade was all business. Naruto looked at her more closely, and noticed the heavy eyelids and the general ill-looking features that were worn by the leader this morning. As they all filed out, except Naruto, he finally clicked in.

"Ah, obaachan? Where is my envelope."?

"You don't get one Naruto-kun. And don't call me that."

"But Hokage-sama…"

"Just shut up and wait Naruto."

The usually obnoxious shinobi plopped down into a chair just as a muffled poof revealed a fully geared Hatake Kakashi in the center of the room. Tsunade looked up at Naruto and Hatake.

"Here is your mission, gentlemen," she tossed a scroll at each of them. "You are to rendezvous with 3 ninja escaping the Rock Village. They are cousins whose clan has been persecuted by the Feudal Lord and the Village Council. The Kage for the Hidden Rock doesn't seem to care for them too much, even though the clan holds a powerful Dojutsu." Kakashi and Naruto both perked up at this. "We don't have any information on it at this point, and minimal information on the refugees. You will have to infiltrate into Rock territory and get them out. They can't make it into Fire Country on their own at this time. 2 of them are chunnin level and one is a genin. This is considered an A+ rank mission, gentlemen; no one outside this room is to know about it. Understood?" Both nodded. "You leave in an hour, Uzamaki, get geared up."

"Hai," he nodded and bolted out. Kakashi looked at the Godaime and smiled under his mask.

"So what aren't you telling us Tsunade-sama?"

She smiled bitterly and looked down at her paperwork, "It seems that I cant hide anything from you can I Kakashi-san? Well, here it is. The Rock Village doesn't want them to stay, and doesn't want them to leave. They are quite powerful if I her tell right, and most are afraid of them, but when they leave the village, you can expect their best to be on their tail. Exercise extreme caution." Kakashi nodded and poofed away.

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Tall rock spires reached up into the sky, creating long shadows across the dusty ground. Atop two such pillars stood 2 figures, of moderate height and smaller frame. On the ground below them stood a third figure, tiny of stature. A ways off from them stood Kakashi and Naruto looking over at them. The tiny one raised her hand and walked toward the Leaf ninja. Her forehead protector was bound tightly across her eyes, and seals adorned her hands and arms. She stopped short of them and as her escorts leapt down beside her.

"Uzamaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi, greetings to you and honor to the leaf. Thank you for coming to our rescue" Naruto raised an eyebrow at this.

"Eh, your welcome, but how did you know our names?"

"There is not time for that. We are the remaining three of the Tohya Clan. The rest sacrificed themselves to make good our escape. Elite jounin from Rock follow us about an hour behind. We must make haste back to the forests of Fire Country." Kakashi nodded.

"Lets go." With chakra-enhanced speed they raced back toward the tree-lined horizon. Naruto looked over at his sensei and noticed him lining their path with small traps, explosive notes mostly, trip wires and a quick seal Naruto didn't recognize. Within a half hour they were back into Leaf territory and safely in the forest.

"Uzamaki-sama, now would be the best time to make a stand if we are going to, here you and Kakashi-sama are in your element." She nodded at the other 2, both of whom wore chuunin vests. She pointed at her cousins, "Kuren-niisan, Omey-neechan please follow Kakashi-samas direction." Naruto was puzzled, a genin was directing the two chuunin around and they were following. Kakashi began to talk to them and Naruto approached the young girl.

"Ah…." He started but was cut off.

"Naruto-sama," she reached out and touched his stomach, where the Kyuubi seal sat. He stiffened in surprise, "now is not the time for your questions, I will answer them later. Save one. Arana. My name is Tohya Arana."

"Arana-chan, please get to a safe place then, we cant allow any of you to be hurt."

"We will stay and fight Naruto-sama, such is our way." Naruto nodded and turned away just as a group of six Rock nin landed just outside of their range. Arana kneeled on the ground facing them as the other four readied for combat. The leader of the Rock shinobi shouted out at them

"Konoha, leave now and you will be left unharmed, our fight is not with you."

"We are in Leaf territory, and these shinobi are under our protection. Leave now and you will not be perused," replied Kakashi evenly.

"We will not."

"So be it."

With blazing speed three rock nin raced forward and in tandem began a flurry of hand seals. All leapt into the air and activated their jutsu's.

"_Doton, Doryuu Taiga"_

The ground beneath them rippled and turned to mud; causing the defending ninja to slide back as a fourth rock nin activated another jutsu.

"_Doton, Doryuudan"_

With an immense surge of chakra, a draconic form rose out of the mud and spewed forth muddy projectiles at horrendous speeds. Kakashi returned with a jutsu his own. The wall of water he created washed away the projectiles and Naruto rushed forward leaping up into the air.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_A dozen Narutos shimmered into the air around them and surrounded the attacking rock ninja. They all grinned, and started performing hand seals. Simutaniously all the Narutos finished. _"Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" _ The heat alone from the twelve grand fireballs dispelled the Naruto clones. To his dismay though, four walls of earth had been formed around the rock nin, protecting them from the firey blast. Two climbed to the top of it, and jumped down, followed by another two. Using the existing mud, Omey preformed the Doryuudan jutsu, which Kakashi followed up with the Karyuudan. The now flaming bits of mud hurtled toward the Rock shinobi.

"Enough of this," Kuren muttered and poked himself with a kunai on his fingertip and wiped it across his eyebrows.

"**Eyes of the Basilisk!" **The unfortunate Rock jounin that made eye-contact with Kuren was immediately petrified, his skin and clothing taking a grey hue. Naruto was amazed. "Holy shit! That was so COOL!" Kuren deactivated his blood-limit and grinned at the tow-headed leaf ninja. He then looked at Arana who also poked herself with a kunai and slammed her hand into the ground from her kneeling position.

"_Kyuichose no Jutsu!"_ Moments later when the small clouds of smoke vanished, a small pack of translucent wolves stood around the little girl, snarling. The pack raced forward, harassing one of the Rock ninja. Naruto took this hint and preformed his own jutsu, running at that same assailant.

"_Rasengan!" _The spinning ball of pure chakra slammed into the center of the rock nin's chest and through, leaving a round, fist sized hole in it. Dropping the body, arm covered in blood, Naruto turned to see Kakashi having done something similar with his Chidori. Kuren had engaged in a losing battle with one of the rock jounin but was being assisted by the wolf pack and Omey. The other two had escaped. With practiced skill, Naruto threw a handful of kunai at the remaining jounin and pinned him to a tree, spread eagle. Kakashi grinned under his mask and looked at the captured man.

"Please, Kakashi-sama, let me take care of this." Kuren placed his hand on the elites shoulder. Kakashi shrugged and let Kuren address him.

"Tell him, we are not coming back." With that, Kuren reactivated his blood-limit and the man froze in place.

With that, the group pointed towards Konoha and began to walk.


	2. Whirlwind of the Earth&Fist of the Right

Disclaimer: No, I dont own own Naruto, be it the series, manga, or any characters or ideas pertaining there to. I do however have original characters within this story, Tohya Kuren, Omey and Arana.

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A/N: So, if you have noticed, I am using some_ Japanese_, and some **Bolded English**. I have been able to find some of the information I have been looking for, but unfortunatly, I cant find a good translation engine that translates to Roman characters instead of kanji. Any help would be appreciated.

Another fighting scene, Chap 3 will have some too, but I am going to keep it to a minimum. I felt it necessary to demonstrate the power of the Whirlwind of the Earth, as that is something that Omey has to use quite a bit, it is her defense. The speed of it is critical. Going to have the other fights go small, but need small demonstrations of their abilities, for my reference as much as to set some limits on the characters. So here is chappy 2, enjoy and review and stuff, suggestions are majorly appreciated right now, especially that engine

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Chapter 2 - Whirlwind of the Earth, and the Fist of the Right

Tsunade looked at the newcomers to the Leaf. She was quite amazed actually, after receiving the reports from Naruto and Kakasho, and looking at the initial investigation into the Tohya dojutsu; amazed that the Hidden Rock let them go this easy. The youngest of the clan, Arana stood before her, eyes still bound with a now blank forehead protector.

"You are looking at my seals." Arana stated plainly. Tsunade was somewhat startled at this frank declaration.

"Er, yes, I was I apologize. It is just that I have never seen the likes of them before." Tsunade paused momentarly then continued, "You are welcome and safe here after you have had some time to rest we would like to run you through the standard medical tests, and then a few small tests on your skills. We have our own grading system here that may be a little different than Rock. Kuren, Omey, I am afraid for now you will be genin among the Konoha ranks, should you choose to join us." The two chuunin nodded their acceptance, "We will be assigning you with a Jounin instructor for the time being, and he will help you get accustomed to life in the Leaf." It was at that moment that Naruto decided to walk in for his meeting with the Godaime. "Speaking of which, here he is."

"Hm? What are you talking about obaa-chan?"

Ignoring him she asked the three newcomers, "Do you all accept?" They all nodded then she turned to Naruto. "Naruto-kun, I would like to introduce you to your team. Team Seven." Naruto beamed and laced his fingers behind his head. "You will report tomorrow morning for standard tests. For now, go to your quarters here in the tower till we can get you set up with a residence. Naruto, please guide them."

"Okay." With a broad sweep of his hand he guided them out of the Hokage's office and up several flights of stairs to a suite of rooms overlooking Konoha, and looking directly out at the Hokage monument. Several long couches lined the walls and four bedrooms shot off the main common room and kitchen. On the low table in the common room sat 3 leaf headbands.

"Oi, have you three eaten yet?" Naruto stood in the kitchen with a cupboard open, looking at the contents. With a negative reply he set a kettle to boil and pulled down four cup ramen. In minutes team seven sat around the table in the common room and chatted the evening away, getting to know each other.

Morning came early, as anticipated mornings usually do, and Naturo and the Tohyas began the long trek to training field 32, on the northwest edge of the Konoha village. Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi, Neji and Lee were there, and moments later, Konohamaru arrived with Iruka. Naruto greeted his old instructor with a grin, and ruffled Konohamaru's hair enthusiastically. Before he could get more than a few words of greeting out however, the Hokage beginning to speak cut him short.

"We are here this morning to run basic combat simulations and tests for out new members. I will be watching, as well as Lee-san, Neji-san and Kakashi-san. Omey-chan, you are up first please, against Konohamaru." Both contestants stepped up. "Test each other, avoid injury if possible. Don't kill each other please. Begin."

Konohamaru grinned and stepped back in to a fighting stance and Omey followed suit. They squared off, eying each other for weaknesses. With deliberate slowness, Konohamaru reached for a kunai and then with chakra-infused speed, rushed his female opponent. He slashed at her, and missed. She was just gone. "_What speed," _he thought, sensing her presence behind him. He ducked and lashed out a leg at ankle level, hoping to trip her. He felt his leg connect with hers and smiled. He finished the sweep and popped back up, and saw a log on the ground. _"Above,"_ he thought again and looked. She was coming down on him with a blue blade. Konohamaru back flipped out of the way as Omey's sword slammed into the ground, leaving a crater meters wide. She stood up with a wicked grin on her face. In her hand was a small piece of metal, cylindrical in shape but solid. Out of it, a fierce blue blade erupted, chakra its crackling power source.

"_Bunshin no jutsu!"_ Four Konohamaru's rushed Omey with blazing speed, kunai in hand. The kunochi held her sword high and didn't move. The clones closed in from four directions. At the last possible moment, she thrust her sword down and launched herself into the air. The thrust touched all the clones, immediately dispelling them. Landing, she activated a jutsu of her own.

"**Earthbound jutsu!" **Sand, water and rock mixed quickly around Konohamaru's feet, binding him to the ground. Again, she preformed a half dozen quick hand seals and activated another technique. The ground rumbled and a giant animated fist of stone cracked its way out of the ground and started squeezing Konohamaru.

"**Earth Element: Fist of the Right!" **

"That will be enough, Omey," called Tsunade's voice above the din. She looked at Shizune, and the stopwatch she held. 45 seconds start to finish, Tsunade reeled, fourty-five seconds to take out one of her most skilled chunnin. Omey cancelled the jutsu and a gasping Konohamaru fell limply to the ground. Shizune rushed out and took him off the field. She placed her green glowing hands on cracked and bruised ribs, but other than that the young chunnin was well. Omey sauntered off to the sidelines and plopped down in the soft grass and waited for the next match. Off to the other side, Kiba, Lee and Neji murmered amongst themselves and Naruto stood alone, a thoughtful look on his face. Suddenley, Lee trotted across the field towards Omey.

"Ah, Omey-san, would you perhaps be up for another match? Against myself."

Omey raised one of her eyebrows and looked at the green-clothed man, "You are jounin are you not?" Lee nooded, "then I accept." Lee offered her a hand, the gentleman he was and helped the younger lady to her feet. At the center of the field again, Lee bowed politely and stepped into his signature taijutsu stance. Omey took four giant steps and slid a pebble out of her kunai holster. In the other hand, she held her silver coloured cylinder. She threw the pebble into the air and preformed a one handed seal

"_Shuriken Doton Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

The pebble replicated into thousands, and began to decend toward the kunochi as she activated another jutsu and her sword

"**Whirlwind of the Earth!"**

She began to spin, the small rocks betting caught up in the tiny tornado she had become. With bullet-like speed they fired out at the jounin. Lee dodged left and right, up and down with ease. Her aim was good, but Lee was too fast, he continued to dodge, then getting low, began to run with chakra-enhanced speed around the younger nin. Seeing a perceived opening, the fuzzy-browed man slid in on his flank to attack her at the feet. A defensive burst of stones caused him to roll out of attacking range. He stood again, wincing in pain. He had taken a rock full force to his foot and damage had been done; The tiny bones of the foot were difficult to heal. Lee looked at the bottom of his shoe, and saw the pebble had gone almost all the way through the sole and was embedded deep inside.

On the side, Neji had activated his byakugan and was looking intently into the whirlwind. He watched as another batch of stones were created and began to fire. "She has superb control," he commented, "she is using almost no chakra to maintain the whirlwind technique and her pebble replication is as well practiced as Naruto's clone techniques. Quite interesting to watch. Lee will have to take off his weights to compete with that."

Kiba raised an eyebrow at this and smirked, "Even with them off, I don't know if he could win, anytime he would get close he would get shot."

"No, Lee's attack patterns are too fast for her to be anything resembling accurate when he is at full speed. And he never attacks quite head on, it is always at a little bit of an angle, incase he needs to deflect or parry an incoming maneuver. It is something he has done since his fight with Gaara of the Sand, he believes that he may not have been so seriously injured if he figured that out before." As if on cue, Lee bent over and took the weights off his ankles, and dropped them to the ground. He then removed another set from around his knees and tossed them aside. Finally, he removed massive ones from around his forearms. With a bright smile, he bolted, and started tearing circles around the whirlwind. Neji couldn't keep up, even with his advanced eyes. Naruto took this time to walk up to Neji, and, turning his back on the fight, muttered in Neji's ear.

"He will go for a top entry." With that, Lee vanished in a blur of speed. Pebbles flew out at random, then suddenly stopped. The whirlwind slowed and dissipated, and when the dust cleared, Lee was hunched over Omey, who was clutching at her shoulder. The young lady muttered curses and made her way pained to the two medic-nin, Lee following closely behind profusely apologizing.


	3. In Which Naruto Confronts

Disclaimer: No, I dont own own Naruto, be it the series, manga, or any characters or ideas pertaining there to. I do however have original characters within this story, Tohya Kuren, Omey and Arana.

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A/N: Second Chapter in 2 days. Been feeling quite inspired. I had to cut the emotional stuff short so that I could move on with the story. Was going to do some other stuff with this chapter, but I need to plan it better before I move on. At least I have a solid start on 4. Please keep reviewing, still need some info on that translation engine and then I can go back and fix the **Bolded English**.

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Chapter 3 - In which Naruto finally confronts that which he has been avoiding

Kiba and Akamaru, both in half beast form, flupped back and stopped spinning, their breath coming ragged and heavy. Kuren was not in much better shape. His clothing was a mess, dust and dirt was clotted in his flat black hair and blood trickled from a wound on his shoulder. The twin Kiba's dashed forward and began to spin in their devastating attack

"_Gatsuuga!"_

Kuren retaliated with another defensive jutsu, spewing mud into a solid wall around him. The pronged attack of Kiba bounced off, creating a crack in the wall. Kuren lept over the remainants of his wall and slashed some blood from his shoulder wound across his eyebrows and looked at one of the Kiba's, all while in flight. The Kiba froze in place, and was then sent flying by a powerful kick landed by Kuren. In a puff of smoke, Akamaru lay stunned on the ground and the former rock-nin turned his dojutsu on the real Kiba, who also froze.

"Match."

Tsunade marked some notes on a piece of paper and went to confer with Neji and Lee was still professing apologies to Omey, who, after realizing the damage she did to the taijutsu masters foot, was doing the same thing. Iruka was waved over to Tsunade, and Kiba was tending to Akamaru, and the others had left, save Kuren, who lay in the grass a little away from the others. Naruto wandered over towards Arana and kneeled down beside the tiny kunochi.

"Nervous, Arana-chan?"

She shook her head and replied in a soft voice, "No, Naruto-sensei, as I know that you will not allow me to be hurt, even if it is us battling." Naruto looked puzzled, so she continued, "The spirits of this area speak of you a lot Naruto-sensei, they tell me what kind of man you are, they tell me of you spending days on end training in this very field. They tell me that your greatest strength is your honour, and your ability to protect those you care about. They also tell me the lengths you have gone to protect your comrades, and to try and pull them from darkness." She paused on this, noticing Naruto's eyes darken at the reference to Saskue. " Naruto-sensei, though it may pain you, please, tell your greatest companion of your mutual loss after our battle. That job weighs heavily on you. It is time to confront it."

Naruto was stunned at the depth with which this mere child spoke. With her forehead protector still bound tightly around her eyes, she stood and walked to the center of the field. From the other end, Tsunade called out to him.

"Oi, Naruto, you're up!"

The blonde jounin smiled and stood, saluting his leader "Hai, Hokage-sama!" There was a tiny hint of mockery in his good natured voice but he jogged out to the field and squared off against Arana. Narrowing his eyes, he slipped out a kunai and threw it at the child with deadly accuracy. With nothing more than a mere wave she brushed it off.

"You will have to come at me seriously Naruto-sensei. The spirits tell me that is the only way this will be a true test. Please, try your hardest."

Naruto nodded and activated his signature jutsu. Eight Narutos shimmered into existence near the original. They rushed her, encircling her quickly. Before the circle was complete, Arana had touched one of the seals on the back of her hand, and pumped chakra into it. In front of her, a pair of ghostly hands appeared and struck out, catching the real Naruto in the jaw unexpectedly, then snapping out and striking all the illusions. The jounin skidded across the ground a good distance, then slowly stood up. By this time the child-like kunochi had preformed another jutsu.

"_Kyuchoise no Jutsu!" _A half dozen translucent wolves poofed into existence around her and snarled at the lone Naruto. He preformed the Kage Bunshin again to throw them off, but the lupines formed into a phalanx and rushed the real one again. Again Naruto was thrown back and the wolves were on him again.

"_Konoha Senpuu!"_ In a whirl of arms and legs Naruto knocked the dogs off of him. He silently thanked Rock Lee, who was beaming from the sidelines, for teaching him that technique. "Well, it looks like I am going to have to get very serious here, Arana-chan" Naruto grinned. "_Rasengen!"_

The jounin ran forward, the glowing blue ball of energy spinning on his palm. He leapt high, twisting his body into a barrel roll and directing himself at Arana. The impact caused smoke and dust to fly around as if a small explosion had just occurred. Naruto stood struggling against aranas new defense, a chield of pure chakra surrounded her. Her right hand was placed against the back of the left, activating the seal on there. The rasengen faltered and then flared loudly, basking the area in a blue errie light. He let out a semi-feral growl and pushed harder against the crackling shield. Arana stood implacable in the center of the energy, though this was taking no effort. Seeing this, the jounin roared, the sound echoing through the trees. It infuriated him, this mere child was taking the full brunt of his most powerful jutsu and not even breathing hard. Forgetting all control, he released his wrist and readied his other hand

"Twin _Rasengen!"_

The second glowing ball of energy flared to life in the young mans hand and he slammed it too against the shield. Inside, Arana groaned, her knees shaking slightly. More and more chakra he pumped into the jutsu, it spun faster and glowed brighter. Flecks of red began to show in his eyes as he began to tap the Kyuubi chakra in his frustration. Feeling her shield weaken, Arana collapsed it then leapt back high onto a treebranch. Naruto stumbled forward, both rasengens slamming into another tree, completely shredding bark and wood. Groaning he stood, and watched the little girl throw herself from the tree branch, twisting and flipping in the air to land and face her opponent. He watched her pull up her sleeve, revealing yet another seal, one he recognized, well sort of. It looked sort of like the seal that appeared when….

"OH SHIT!" Naruto leapt back just in time to see a giant wolf appear infront of him. He hit the ground and nipped his thumb with a fang and preformed several hand seals.

"_Kyuchosie no Jutsu"_

When the smoke settled, Naruto stood on the head of a giant frog. Gammabunta looked around, "Oi, Brat, why did you call me out, I was in the middle of a bottle of sake!"

"Look infront of you Gamabunta, battle."

"Oh, look at the cute little puppy," the massive frog chuckled, which received a growl from the wolf. "Well then lets get to this. Oi, kid, where is that pervert you hang around with, where is Jiraya?" The words struck a chord with the jounin, and Arana sent off her wolf.

"It is over Tsunade-sama," she stated quietly, "I concede."

The others had left the field, and Naruto sat quietly on the nose of the frog boss. His head downcast and tears filling his eyes. "That day, against Orochimaru. The snake-bastard got him, I don't know what happened. I—I—I couldn't save him. I killed the bastard, but ero-sannin…..ero-sannin didn't make it." Tears openly streamed down his face. "I haven't summoned you in three years because I couldn't bear to tell you. You two were always fighting, but he cared for all of you, and I know you did as well. I just…"

"Naruto-san" Gamabunta rumbled, "we know what happened. The scroll was never passed on, and so returns to us. Here," Jiraya's giant scroll appeared in the frog's webbed hand, "He would have wanted you to have this. Take good care of it. It is not your fault he died Naruto, you have to move on from this. It will always hurt, just as it hurts me still. And will again when you leave. He is part of a bigger thing now and will always be with you as long as you remember him."

Naruto sighed and looked up a bit, "That is what Kakashi and Sakura said too, it's just not right, its not fair. Why couldn't I save him?"

"You did, in a way. You saved Konoha, you saved its people from Orochimaru's threat. You did what a Hokage and a Sannin couldn't. Both Sarutobi and Jiraya are proud of you boy. I am too. I have hated that snake bastard as long as anyone. You sure you got him, he isn't coming back. Naruto nodded.

"He was in pieces. Trapped him between 2 rasengens I think. I don't remember much of it, its all a haze. I was just so hurt, Jiraya was near dead and that bastard, that bastard was laughing!" Naruto began to cry, sobs wracking his body. He cried long into the night until he passed out.

Naruto awoke in the morning feeling better. Sort of like he had been hollowed out and cleaned with a scouring pad, he didn't feel good, but better. He was ready to move on, he was finally ready to lead this team. He was prepared.


End file.
